


Return the favor

by little_purple_butterflies



Series: Moments in Time [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: A deeper look into a scene, Episode: s03e02 In Name and Blood, Family, Gen, One Shot, aka In Birth and Death, bit of a character study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 10:51:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9436934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_purple_butterflies/pseuds/little_purple_butterflies
Summary: It all came down to family.





	

**Author's Note:**

> As stated this is a deeper look into an existing scene (and a character) so I took the dialog from the episode. Basically it's my take on a character's thoughts.
> 
> This story is also posted on ff.net.
> 
> A big thanks to my dear friend Sarah for being my beta.

“So what’s around the dumpsite?” Reid heard Hotch asking Detective Wolynski. Sitting in a chair at the table in the middle of the room the young agent looked over to the two men that were standing in front of a board with the city’s map on it.

They had found yet another victim and were no closer to finding the UnSub. Starting the case with only a three-man team with Section Chief Strauss as their temporary superior, the two profilers had quickly realized that with Prentiss and Hotch not on the team anymore, they weren’t able to function like they did before.

And with Gideon still missing, Spencer’s worry for his mentor distracted him from being able to completely focus on the case. So he was glad when Emily and Aaron joined them. And he had a feeling that Strauss was as well. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the young agent that the Section Chief was out of her league even though she wouldn’t admit it. 

So now the team was almost complete again and Reid was confident that they would crack the case.

“Here’s the old printing press of Quad Graphics and the paving yard, and then the concrete factory where we found the body,” the cop answered now, marking each of the locations on the map, “none of them visible from the highway.”

Prentiss, who was sitting on the table next to Spencer’s chair, remarked, “You don’t end up there by accident.” Everybody in the room turned toward her.

While walking over to the wooden piece of furniture with the detective following him, Hotch said, “So we go back to the schools. We eliminate the Third Ward, and we target problem kids whose fathers have held blue-collar jobs over the last ten years.”

“What if he’s no a problem kid?” Spencer asked, more to himself, looking at the table in thoughts.

After finding Claire Thompson dead and his boss telling him that he needed to focus on the case, he had gone over every detail of the case in his mind again and something had caught his attention.

“What?” Morgan replied, standing next to Aaron and leaning against the table.

Even though their youngest colleague couldn’t help but notice the similarities to his own childhood, it went against precedent, so he said dismissively, “Forget it, it’s off the textbook profile.”

“What is it, Reid?” Hotch asked in an encouraging tone, seemingly glad that Spencer’s mind was on the case now.

Looking up at his superior the other profiler explained, “Sometimes, when a - when a parent is unstable,” his glance shifted over to Morgan, “especially if the other one’s out of the picture…” Pausing for a moment he shook his head once, almost subconsciously, and looking at the table again, he continued, “You’ll do anything to be the perfect child.”

He was pretty sure that his fellow agents had caught on to the fact that he was talking about himself. Back then he had done anything in his power to cover up for his schizophrenic mother after his father had left them.

“Like help your father abduct woman?” Emily asked skeptically.

Turning his head toward her, Reid replied in his usual fast-talking way, “They’re never late for school. Even with the abductions, the disposals of the bodies…” Looking ahead again the agent saw out of the corner of his eyes that Prentiss was glancing over at Hotch while he continued, “It’s always timed perfectly so the kid will be on time to school.” His gaze shifted to Emily again. “I don’t think the killer would care, I think the kid would.”

He had done at least all those years ago in an attempt to make everything appear normal, with the purpose to avoid questions from the people around him. And he was sure the UnSub’s child would want that as well. 

While Morgan and Wolynski still looked at him, Emily and Hotch exchanged glances. After a moment the senior agent pulled out his cell phone from the inner pocket of his jacket and left the room, presumably to call Garcia. Prentiss sat down next to Spencer and like Derek she prepped herself for giving the new profile to the schools’ administration.

Reid hoped that they would find the UnSub before he could kill another woman. Though he knew that it meant that the kid would lose the only parent he had left. In a way he felt lucky that he hadn’t had to grow up alone like the child would have to. 

After having to send Diana to the sanatorium, he was grateful to have found a mentor in Gideon, who had become some kind of a surrogate father to him as well. Allowing his mind to wander a bit, he wondered if the older agent was indeed at his cabin like Hotch had suggested earlier. And he decided that as soon as they had solved the case and were back at Quantico he would drive there to check on him. 

After all, the senior profiler had always been there for him. It was time to return the favor.


End file.
